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History · Merrill

Merrill’s post office opened in 1896, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1922 on.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Merrill’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Merrill began

When was Merrill founded?

1896

The Merrill post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1903. Another post office, Gale (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 821130 years
Founding year: the first Merrill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1903.The full story ↓

What stands out about Merrill’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Merrill’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · The story

How Merrill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Merrill.

Read it all →

Merrill was named for rancher Nathan S. Merrill, who settled at this location in 1890. A post office was established in Merrill in 1896. H. E. Momyre was the postmaster. The first business in Merrill was a grist mill.

Situated within the ancestral lands of the Modoc people, modern-day Merrill, Oregon, is the site of the Battle of Lost River, which took place on November 29, 1872. This engagement marked the first armed conflict between the United States Army and the Modoc tribe during the Modoc War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Merrill, 1890 to 1939

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Gale post office opens
  3. 1896Post officeThe Gale post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Merrill post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Born hereCarl Barks is born here
  7. 1922In the archiveC.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merrill, near Klamath Falls, Oregon
  8. 1926Born hereDella Martin Roy is born here
  9. 1939In the archiveBaby from Mississippi parked in truck at FSA camp, Merrill, Oregon, 8b35579
By decade

Merrill, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s6 items
C.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merrill, near Klamath Falls, Oregon1922C.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merrill, near Klama…Baby from Mississippi parked in truck at FSA camp, Merrill, Oregon, 8b355791939Baby from Mississippi parked in truck at FSA camp, Me…Baby from Mississippi parked in truck at FSA camp, Merrill, Oregon, 8b355791939Baby from Mississippi parked in truck at FSA camp, Me…On main street of potato town during harvesting season. Merrill, Oregon1939On main street of potato town during harvesting seaso…On main street of potato town during harvest season. Merrill, Oregon1939On main street of potato town during harvest season. …Potatoes in storage cellar at end of season. Merrill, Klamath County, Oregon1939Potatoes in storage cellar at end of season. Merrill,…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

C.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merrill, near Klamath Falls, Oregon
Retake this viewC.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merrill, near Klamath Falls, Oregon, 1922

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Merrill’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Merrill

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
D
Della Martin RoyAmerican materials scientist · b. 1926
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Merrill’s post office has been open since 1896. Another post office, Gale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gale
1890–1896
Merrill
1896–today
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Merrill’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewC.1922. S. Rex Black, overlooking Merri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Merrill’s history

What year was Merrill founded?

The Merrill post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1903.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.